Product Description

'Acid Tongue' is the second album from Rilo Kiley frontwoman Jenny Lewis. Produced by Jonathan Rice, Dave Scher and Jason Lader, the album was recorded in just three weeks, givingan overall live feel to this release. Musically, Lewis sticks to the country feel of her debut, while pushing her soundin a rocker direction. Guest players and vocalists include Elvis Costello, actress Zooey Deschanel, M. Ward, and The Black Crowes' Chris Robinson.

Track Listing

1. Black Sand
2. Pretty Bird
3. Next Messiah
4. Bad Man's World
5. Acid Tongue
6. See Fernando
7. Godspeed
8. Carpetbaggers - Lewis, Jenny & Elvis Costello
9. Trying My Best To Love You
10. Jack Killed Mom
11. Sing A Song For Them

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #772 in Music
• Released on: 2008-09-22
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Definite grower
After being thoroughly disappointed with Rilo Kiley's last album I approached this with some trepidation. Thankfully this turned out to be a good listen - not immediate but a definite 'grower' after a few plays. Songs such as 'Pretty Bird' and 'Godspeed' are gorgeous, for example. I've even grown to quite like Elvis Costello's contribution to 'Carpetbaggers' which at first struck me as rough and too raw. Now I think I think it fits the song. All in all, worth a listen. Jenny Lewis is a talented writer and singer - one wonders why she needs Rilo any more as this is far superior. I do agree with the reviewer about the cover - it is shockingly bad considering the quality of the contents. No stars for that!

Not as good as the last
"Not what the last album was"

I've waited a while to review this album, in the hope that it would be a real grower. It's alright, in fact it's got a couple of great songs on it, not least Jack Killed Mom which is a classic. But it's not anywhere the classic album that the last one was. I couldn't get enough of the first album, it was in my cd player for about a year. This has been in my cd player simply because it was Jenny Lewis. Sadly the song Acid Tongue sounds like a rehash of Born Secular, which was a great song. The entire album sorely lacks the magic of the Watson Twins backing vocals. The instrumental work doesn't seem as inspired or as well arranged as the last album either. As for Carpetbaggers, a great song ruined by Elvis Costello.
It's felt like a long wait for the new Jenny Lewis album, but I can't help feeling that Jenny didn't wait long enough and rushed this.

"That difficult second album" syndrome strikes
Jenny Lewis deserves credit for trying to not just replicate "Rabbit Fur Coat" and as other reviewers have noted this is rockier in its overall outlook. And her voice is still excellent. Sadly however, the songs just aren't as good and the album is lacking something overall.

The best songs come in a row in the middle: See Fernando, Godspeed and Carpetbaggers,her duet with Elvis Costello. Elsewhere however there are just fairly average efforts, with a couple of songs sounding like they are attempts to cash in on the Isobel Campbell/Mark Lanegan market. The title track sounds like a poor rewrite of Born Secular from "Rabbit Fur Coat" and Badman's World is just tedious.

All the way through the album one thing seemed to be missing, and after a couple of plays I realised - it's the Watson Twins' harmonies. That, plus the general songwriting quality, is what makes it a vastly inferior album to its predecessor